MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — Starting at 5 p.m. this Friday, a policy will go into place asking teens to be supervised by their parents if they’re at the Richland Mall on Friday and Saturday evenings after 5. Several teens, young adults and parents shared with 25 News how they feel about the policy.
- The policy states that "mall visitors under 18 are required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian 21 years or older on Friday and Saturday evenings after 5 p.m."
- Teens feel their independence is being taken from them, but parents believe it's a positive change when thinking about the safety of their children
- A spokesperson for the mall said they have see some disruption at the mall and to keep it a family friendly environment, they are implementing the escort policy
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Central Texans are having mixed reactions for the new youth escort policy at Richland Mall — from teens feeling like their freedom is stripped away, to parents feeling more secure about their kids safety.
“I can’t blame the mall for wanting to protect the youth — child abduction scares me," said father of three, Jake Morphew.
"That's scary for all of us."
The policy states: "mall visitors under 18 are required to be accompanied by a parent or guardian 21 years or older on Friday and Saturday evenings after 5 p.m."
25 News asked Richland Management if the policy is a result of fights at the mall.
"We’ve certainly had some disruption to our operations and the overall family-friendly environment at Richland Mall that we are trying to maintain that have been caused by unsupervised youth,” said spokesperson for the Richland Mall, Stacey Keating.
Keating says they’ve implemented this policy to their properties all across the Unites States and have seen positive results — so how’s the policy going to work?
Security officers will ask anyone unsupervised who appears to be under the age of 18 for identification — any teens without supervision will be asked to leave. But some teens, aren’t looking forward to the change.
“We like to do this a lot when we have nothing to do," Savannah Rhodes said.
15-year-old Mary Jane Traywick and 16-year-old Savannah Rhodes spend a lot of their free time hanging out at the mall because it’s fun, and doesn’t cost them anything.
"Kids walking around to hang out with their friends, it’s free to do that, to walk around stores — you don’t have to buy anything," Traywick said.
14-year-old Allison Posey believes the age should be dropped to 16.
“I think if you’re able to provide yourself with transportation than you should be able to be at the mall by yourself, but anything younger than 16, I would agree with having an adult,” Posey said.
The mall employees under the age of 18 will have ID badges.
Some mall attendees expressed the concern for the lack of security at the mall, but Keating says they are not able to disclose how many security officers the mall has on staff.
The mall is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For the full Youth Escort Policy, click here.
